Light of the Dark

by N. Saraven

  While he was wandering on his path of thoughts, he did not pay attention to the companions gathering near him.

  “How did you know that we were here?” The shadow turned to Veilon, who started to climb on Goldenrain’s back.

  “I took a little trip to Varomor,” he answered, not even bothering to look at the Leader.

  “WHAT?!” cried out Neila and Halgor at the same time.

  The black paragon only shrugged as an answer, after he settled down.

  This, however, proved to be too much for Halgor. He completely lost his temper, which was normally even more unlikely than befriending a kinwa …

  Before anybody could hold him back, the elven teleported himself on Goldenrain’s back. Fury flooded his mind, drowning every drop of sense. He even managed to surprise his opponent with this sudden move, so he could send Veilon crashing into the ground with a hard blow on his jaw.

  Halgor jumped right after him, continuing to beat him wherever he could with almost bestial violence. He could see nothing through the red fog before his eyes. In the next moment, somebody tried to jerk him up, grabbing him from behind, which made him turn his attention to the new attacker.

  The elven tried to break free with force. When it did not work, he chanted a spell, making his silhouette catch on fire, as it seemed. The flames lasted only for a moment; they were more for show than anything, yet it worked perfectly—whoever held him back released him.

  The mage then searched for his rival’s dark clothes, intending to continue what he started.

  Then another force stepped on him, literally. Something huge pinned him to the ground, almost crushing him with its force. Halgor tried to break free, wiggling frantically as he shouted, demanding to be released. He almost started to chant another, stronger spell, when a funny-smelling cloth was pushed to his face. The peculiar odour made him sick in his stomach and clouded his mind. Blackness started to climb on him.

  A few breaths later he lost consciousness.

  “What brought that out?” asked Kira, who held the cloth to the elven’s face.

  When he fainted, she put it away, as Goldenrain got off him. A few steps farther Neila helped Veilon up. Everybody was caught completely off guard by the happenings.

  “Another one of Veilon’s line-crossings,” growled Agony, who stood just behind the kobold with folded arms. His eyes told that even though he had no clue what lay behind the scenes, he blamed the paragon first.

  “I’d finish what he started, but I’m not in the mood to be knocked out by some concoction,” joined in Talek, staring at the Ruler angrily. He earned a few disapproving gazes, but he did not care.

  “Very funny, Talek,” hissed Veilon through his teeth, then he murmured a healing spell.

  After, he started to wipe off the blood from his face with a wet cloth, given to him by Kira. But his hand trembled, so Neila took it and helped him.

  As she tended to the kobold, she could not help but wonder how lucky the situation turned out. After all, nobody took notice of the paragon’s blabber of Varomor—about a legendary caste, of which ‘nobody knows anything’, so why would he go there? Furthermore, even if he did, why would Halgor get so furious about such a ‘silly’ thing?

  She felt relieved about their escape from explaining things. She really did not want to tell her friends about Varomor, about the truth.

  On the other hand, she did not realise that their luck ran even deeper than that. Because nobody who actually knew about the Tower asked her why she did not get angry at the kobold intruding into her territory … Or who would be the one who actually would answer Veilon’s questions about the situation …

  “What’s happening?” The companions heard an unknown voice from somewhere, which made them search for the source.

  Amidst the many kinwas and shadows, a young girl tried to break through to them. She almost fell on her nose when she tried to get to Neila between two dragons, who tried to get a better look at Halgor.

  “Rita …” The Master sighed, as she helped her find balance again.

  “Oh, a new face!” prattled Silumar, who until that point had asked a lot of questions about the cloth Kira held to Halgor’s face. He almost knocked himself out with it when he took a deep breath through it, just to ‘know what it smells like’. Luckily, the mixture disappeared quickly through the air. After the kinwa was not allowed to see the bottle of liquid, he grew bored.

  Until Rita came.

  Sil frisked to her immediately, grabbed her hand, and jibber-jabbered about something, as he shook it frantically.

  “Would you let me go? I don’t understand anything you say,” complained Rita as she jerked herself free. Then she sidled to Cameron, who still crouched on the pavement at the huge entrance of the Meeting-room.

  “Oy vey, you don’t need to be so shy. I just want to—” Silumar tried to follow her, but a firm grasp grabbed his collar and lifted him in the air. The kinwa could hardly breathe as he regarded the deep-blue gaze.

  “I’ll only say this once, so you listen carefully! Leave her alone, or I’ll chop your hand off!” ordered Talek to the little fellow, then without anything further, he threw him away.

  Silumar landed on his back with a painful moan. A few kinwas ran to help him up as he mumbled something under his nose. Then, seemingly without any actual harm, he disappeared in the crowd.

  “Who is this girl?” asked Agony after the air cooled down a little.

  He seemed unsure why the kobold soldier behaved so protectively about that girl. The warrior glanced at her enquiringly. She now stood beside Cameron, obviously uneasy and shy beyond reason. She looked like a lost pup in a dark, scary forest. Then she discovered his gaze on her, which made her blush, dropping her head.

  But there was something about her … something Agony could not pinpoint.

  “We should discuss this in a calmer place.” Neila sighed as she knelt down beside Halgor, who still lay on the pavement.

  Enargit suggested that they should use the former training hall, somewhat farther away from the main square. So Talek and Agony grabbed the elven by his arms and legs and carried him there, following the shadow Leader.

  During all these happenings, nobody paid attention to Cameron.

  The bright dragon crouched at the opened doors, pouting and feeling sorry for himself. In a moment, he became forgotten like a kinwa. Which made him furious.

  Not long before, he was irreplaceable. Nothing had happened without him, without his knowledge. He truly was a valuable member of the pack.

  But now … he had never felt so useless in his life. It seemed that even Veilon became part of the discussions more than him.

  He sulked silently, not realising Rita was standing beside him. The girl sometimes looked at him questioningly or worried. He had a hunch that she said something at some point, but he could not care less at the time.

  Cameron just stared at Neila angrily when she stepped to him and Rita. She put her hand on the girl’s shoulder, asking her to join them. However, not even a glance remained for him, which made him more furious. As if he did not even exist, the Master looked right through him. So the reptile decided, enough is enough.

  As the bright slowly followed his companions to the new place, he thought about how and when he would demand an answer from Neila. He did not look at the rumbling training hall, which would be their sleeping place for the night. It meant just another huge hall to him, nothing more. Which he had to share with a mortal enemy …

  During the next few days, Cameron tried to find the right moment to speak with Neila. The dragon’s intentions were to solve this whole matter with reason and courtesy. But the Master seemed to be so occupied that no such time came along. So after a while, manners were the last thing in the bright’s mind …

  He felt that he became pushed at the edge of everything. Nobody seemed to want to talk to him directly. If he wanted to know something, anything, he had to talk to Rita. Even the girl was more informed than him.

&nb
sp; Cameron knew nothing about why this had happened, or why the others left him out of everything. But it was even more surprising to him when he asked about it. Neila just looked at him as if he were some kind of fool.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about. You are everywhere we are,” Neila answered briskly with a faint frown.

  This meant the last strand, although Cameron held himself back for a little longer.

  “What do you think is wrong with Cameron?” asked Kira one night when the bright was surely asleep already.

  He curled up in the farthest, darkest corner he could possibly find. But it seemed that the darkness around him was partly emitted by him.

  The companions just exchanged glances. In the last few days they all got a somewhat clear idea of the happenings after the Dragonwars. Now, they sat at the fire in the training room, some leaning against the wall, others against a huge pile of stone-rubble. The shade now sat with lifted knees, on which she rested her chin.

  “I really don’t know, cannot even guess,” mumbled Neila, sadness mixed with worry in her eyes. “I’ve tried to involve him, ask him questions, his opinions, everything. He looked through me, as if I were not there. Other times, I caught him gazing far off, as if he were blind and deaf.”

  “Maybe he is …” said Agony, who glanced more and more times at the bright dragon.

  Enargit followed his gaze. He opened his mouth, but then closed it without actually saying anything. Then the Leader caught Veilon’s searching eyes on him, but he did not give away his thoughts or feelings.

  “Poor soul. Who knows what he had to live through in Indrek’s prison.” Kira sighed; she was genuinely concerned about the dragon.

  Neila started to wonder about the situation as she sat leaning against the wall. She truly worried about her friend and missed him greatly. She could feel his anger towards her but could do nothing about it. Or if she could, she did not know what. She had a hunch that the soultaker spell could be behind all of this, but without further information, that was all she got.

  In the end, Neila just sighed and rested her head on Halgor’s shoulder next to her. The elven was asleep, so he did not notice the envious glance from Veilon, who sat across from them, leaning against Goldenrain’s side. Neila did, albeit she just closed her eyes. She had no energy to deal with the kobold right now.

  The mage knew nothing had changed the paragon’s feelings towards her. It was the nature of the kobolds: whenever they chose someone, they could not have the same deep affections for anybody else, even if that person did not share their feeling or died.

  In other circumstances, Neila would even consider diving into such a relationship. She most probably would never forgive Halgor for what he had done during the Dragonwars—against her and her friends. However, she had her reasons to stay with him—serious reasons, really important ones.

  For the time being at least …

  On the other hand, the kobold’s presence only hardened the bad enough atmosphere amidst the companions. The elven grabbed every single opportunity to get back at Veilon. They truly were rivals, from the wanting-to-kill-one-another-in-a-tablespoon-of-water type, and seemingly nothing could change that. But Kira always stepped in, just at the right time. She had some peculiar concoctions which could knock out anybody in an instant.

  Halgor’s absence created even more troubles, of course. He had good ideas, points of view, not to mention cunning logic. Moreover, he really liked bossing everybody around with terrible precision. Thus even he admitted that lying around half-days out cold became rather unpleasant. Especially since the concoction that Kira used on him had some very sour side effects, which could not be handled by magic. So after a couple times, he wisely decided to restrain himself and not try to kill Veilon every possible chance he had.

  The only bright side was that the kobold behaved well around Halgor. Uncharacteristically so. He was not stupid either. The Master was one of the two who actually had bigger power than him. The magical war between them could destroy half the world they were on at the moment. Which seemed such a high price what even the paragon would not want to give.

  After all, who would he rule, if he did …? Neila asked herself sarcastically.

  On the other hand, she had no clue why the Ruler actually stayed, when before he wanted to leave. He had changed his mind after Halgor attacked him. Maybe he had some knowledge about the future …

  At this point, Neila stopped torturing her mind with thinking. She felt exhausted; most of her friends had already fallen asleep, even Enargit, who had developed the habit of watching over Cameron. Just as most of them …

  Every one of the companions felt the turmoil inside the bright. Sadly, nobody knew when the pressure would reach its breaking point. What would be the crack to make him erupt?

  The next morning, this sad burden was given to a young shadow dragon, who waited with the others to take off and scout the landscape.

  “Don’t forget, be careful above anything else,” Neila reminded the dragons. After Enargit translated, she stepped to one to get on his back.

  This was the moment when Cameron attacked.

  The bright dragon launched forwards, tossing everybody out of his way. He crashed into the shadow one, pinning him against a pile of rubble. He was about to tear the other’s throat open, when all the bystanders grabbed him wherever they could and started to jerk him away. Cameron fought them furiously, however, trying to break free.

  Four shadow dragons, amidst them Enargit, managed to overpower the attacker, nailing him to the pavement.

  “By the Gods, what’s happening?” cried out Neila, who was tossed away by Cameron.

  She now stepped closer to the captive, who looked around with smouldering red eyes. No reason shone in his gaze; probably he did not recognise anybody around him through the red fog. The mage opened her mouth to say something, but they heard Cameron inhaling deeply.

  “Run!” shouted the Master to the attacked shadow dragon, yet he was too injured. Before anything worse could happen, Enargit stepped on Cameron’s head and jaws, almost crushing him into the pavement. The bright one only managed to cough up a few ice crystals.

  “What’s happening?” Veilon arrived at the scene, immediately jerking Neila behind him protectively.

  She stepped forwards again, however, with a questioning glance, obviously not understanding why he did that. The Master slowly approached Cameron, who stared at them angrily, wiggling under the shadows’ hold. Somehow he still had the energy to fight. He even tried to snap at Neila when she held out her hand to touch him. He also started to growl with such a low voice, as if the ground was shaking. He did not recognise his own name when the Master called it.

  In the end, the companions came up with the solution to knock out the bright dragon. It was Silumar who suggested it, who suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere. The kinwa had the amazing ability to know about everything—what his friends discussed, did, or thought. Without spying, he said, although nobody knew the truth about this.

  When nobody else came up with a better idea, Neila knelt beside Cameron and made him fall asleep with a spell. Meanwhile, Veilon healed the injured shadow dragon, who then looked just as worried as the companions about the bright.

  “We need to lock him somewhere, in case he does not remember when he wakes up,” murmured Enargit, although he did not seem very sure about it. Then a few shadow dragons grabbed Cameron, then slowly and carefully dragged him into an old, mostly empty armoury, which they then locked from the outside.

  “Do you know what was the last strand?” Agony asked Neila, but she only shook her head, watching her friend being imprisoned.

  Neila felt nauseated. She had no idea how this could happen. Every single one of them tried to talk to Cameron before. They invited him to every meeting or discussion. Rita even told jokes to him. Not to mention Silumar, who seemed to be all over the place, talking to everybody at the same time.

  Regardless, somehow Cameron missed these, w
hich made him believe that he became left out of the happenings.

  Anyhow, the Sun was still up in the sky, so the companions returned to their plans. They could do nothing more for the bright dragon, just wait. They talked long into the night, albeit when they finally went to sleep, they had disturbing dreams.

  A huge cracking and thudding sound startled them up in the middle of the night. They scrambled to their feet, moody and exhausted, yet ready to fight if needed. The friends ran outside just in time to see a dark silhouette taking off from the stronghold, heading away.

  “What the …?” gasped Halgor, staring at the sky.

  “Cameron …” whispered Neila, trembling.

  “We must stop him!” snapped Enargit, who stayed the calmest. He ordered his dragons to take off immediately. Yet, even though they could fly the fastest, they could not catch up to the bright.

  The companions stood utterly stunned in their place. Nobody knew what they should do next.

  22. On the other side

  Cameron flew almost blindly in the night, driven by his fury only. He could only see pictures in his mind—Enargit, who drained all the attention for himself alone, Enargit who whispered venomous words into Neila’s ears. The shadow dragon surely just wanted to control her, who somehow seemed fool or naïve enough to believe him. And Halgor could not do anything about it either.

  He is an elven, who is in love … He would do nothing that could harm his relations with Neila. By the Gods, how stupid can he be in a time like this?! Cameron thought angrily.

  Enargit must have savoured his victory above the mages and him. Him, the closest friend of her. Normally he would defend her, yet at the moment he became defeated—Neila believed Enargit over him. As a result, she had left him. HIM! Just like that, as if they had not lived through enough together.